Australian assistance

The Australian Government says it will help deliver emergency food and medical supplies, and conduct aerial reconnaissance of disaster-affected areas.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr will travel to the Solomon Islands on Sunday to talk to authorities about the progress of recovery efforts.

Australia has already contributed $US250,000 to the Solomon Islands Red Cross and $50,000 to the National Disaster Management Office.

Senator Carr says an Australian patrol boat has also been deployed to help transport food and medical supplies to affected areas.

"It's an opportunity while I'm visiting Pacific islands states to call in on the Solomons to look at their recovery and to speak to their leadership about whether any other Australian assistance would be useful to them."

Flimsy shelter

The Premier of Temotu Province in the Solomon Islands says thousands of people are sheltering under tarpaulins as they wait for a supply boat to arrive.

Charles Brown Beu told Radio Australia that hundreds of homes have been destroyed and homeless people have virtually no shelter.

"These people at the moment are living in temporary shelters," he said.

"It's not tents, it's basically tarpaulins that we have put up in the bush. These tarpaulins cannot keep these people safe from the rain. Some people are virtually outside, no tarpaulin on top of their heads."

Aid agency World Vision says food and water in the hillside camps was running low and sanitation would soon become an issue.

"Destruction has been widespread in and around Lata," it said.

"Coastal wells have been covered by debris or contaminated, water tanks and toilets have been destroyed and coastal areas are littered with dead fish and poultry."

The US Geological Survey said Wednesday's quake struck in the middle of the day, beneath the sea about 76 kilometres west of Lata.

The Solomons are part of the "Ring of Fire", a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific that is subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

In 2007 a tsunami following an 8.0-magnitude earthquake killed at least 52 people in the Solomons and left thousands homeless.